Return to the Shadows
by Rydrake Kyuubi
Summary: AU. Hyrule is back under the threat of Twilight, but from an unlikely foe. Together with Midna and the young Zora Kakyo, Link must save Hyrule and the Twilight Realm. But will he really be able to take down this foe?
1. The Fused Shadow Returns

Character Thoughts: "{abc}"  
Translated Speech: "_abc_" (usually referring to animals)

Chapter 1:  
The Fused Shadow Returns

It has been only one month since Midna, the Twilight Princess, returned to the Twilight Realm. The Mirror of Twilight still remains shattered, the glass only dust. Ever since the death of Ganondorf, Hyrule has been peaceful. Link, on the other hand, is not at peace himself.

After the death of Ganondorf one month prior, he had returned the Master Sword to its pedestal in the Sacred Grove. His title of Hero will be passed on to a hopeful descendant, should he have one. However, a messenger from Hyrule Castle had located Link at the edge of Ordon Village and handed him a message from Princess Zelda herself. Her note stated that Link is welcome to become a Royal Guard and live at the castle. Link declines, saying there is no reason for him to live in a castle, and leaves the guard behind.

He returns to his home in Ordon Village, leaving Epona at the ranch. In the basement, he removes his Hero Tunic, placing it in a chest. Link then covers the chest with a sheet before heading off to bed.

Each day as the sky turns to twilight, Link stares into it hoping one day Midna will return. But knowing the mirror is shattered, he questions if it will ever be possible, as the mirror was the only link between the Worlds of Light and Twilight. But he eventually stops staring at the twilit sky realizing he may never see her again, and starts to consider becoming a Royal Guard; at least Epona won't have to always herd goats every day.

Unbeknownst to the Hero Chosen by the Gods, a near repeat event was about to unfold.

It is early afternoon. A young female Zora dressed in a pink belly shirt and a short pale blue hakama has left Zora's Domain not wanting to accept her fate as "servant to the prince". She wants to be a soldier like her brother was before he mysteriously disappeared. But the prince, with his attitude, said she was only best to become a servant, quickly demanding her to fetch some fish. Angered and feeling betrayed, she fled. Now she has found herself in Hyrule Field, around where that fateful battle took place. She trips over a rock and falls face first into the grass.

She pushes herself up only to find a piece of the Fused Shadow, the piece Midna had worn before her true form was revealed. Earlier on, each race was given a piece to guard – the Zoras, the Gorons, and the recently-returned Gerudos. However, Zelda never returned for the fourth piece, hoping it would eventually sink into the earth. But this young Zora never knew of the Fused Shadow; the only thing she knew was that Zora's Domain thawed out and her brother was gone. She quickly digs it up, finding it has been crushed. The young Zora picks up the pieces and heads for Castle Town, hoping to get some glue.

Meanwhile in Castle Town, Zelda walks through the streets glad to find everyone is happy and carefree. The Princess soon overheard a guard arguing with someone.

"Cut it out, Kakyo, you know you cannot come through the gates without your brother. Now move along." the guard coldly condescends.

"But you don't understand!" Kakyo desperately argues, "My brother is missing! And I only want to get through for some glue! The prince demands it!"

Zelda approaches asking, "What is going on here? I thought I said I wanted no conflict with the other races of Hyrule."

The guard turns to her saying, "But Princess, this Zora has a history of being troublesome. The only way she can come through these gates is if her brother is with her."

"But it sounds like Prince Ralis has demanded something from her. Please, let her through." Zelda calmly says.

Kakyo barges through saying, "Thank you, Princess!" as she rushes to the marketplace.

After finally obtaining some quick drying glue, Kakyo rushes back to Hyrule Field hiding under a bridge where water flows. She puts the pieces of the relic together and is happy with the result. But, as the sky turns to twilight, the relic suddenly glows and floats. It rushes out from underneath the bridge quickly becoming bathed in the twilight. Kakyo emerges fully nervous, until a hologram of Twilight Princess Midna appears from the eye-like carving.

"Wow…" Kakyo says stunned, "she's beautiful!"

The hologram speaks, "Greetings, seeker of the Twilight. I am Midna, princess of the Twilight Realm. Obviously you have found the one fragment of an ancient relic called the Fused Shadow. This is the fragment I've held onto most of my life to prove my own royalty. I have left it behind on purpose without the Hero Chosen by the Gods's noticing. Honestly, I was hoping he would've found it. This message is not for him."

"…Then, how'd you…?" Kakyo tries to ask.

The hologram continues, "Even though you are not him, I will tell you this anyway. I have shattered the Mirror of Twilight; the only thing that linked my world and your world. But, I know of another way to create a new link. All you need to do is bring this fragment to Arbiter's Grounds, to the Mirror Chamber. Hold it up to the mirror's frame."

The relic suddenly falls to the ground, the message now complete. Kakyo picks up the relic, concerned about how she's supposed to get to the Gerudo Desert. But her desire to meet Princess Midna is greater than looking for her brother. She headfs back to Lake Hylia.

Upon returning to the lake, she swims over to Fyer, who is always glad to help Kakyo perform Cannon Balls. She swims under his hut quickly noticing a new structure in the Cliffside; the Gerudos had added a bridge-like walkway so they could get to Hyrule Field more easily in order to deliver and receive trades. Kakyo never noticed it before, due to always remaining in Zora's River. One part of the walkway extends to the lake, a pathway she cannot ignore. She swims over and jumps out of the lake onto the shore and heads onto the walkway. Plumm notices her and flies over to asking what she's doing. When she tells him her plans he is astonished and tells her she'll never make it through the desert on foot. Kakyo stops, now realizing she was foolish to think she could cross the desert.

"Plumm," Kakyo asks, "what should I do?"

"You need a horse." Plumm replies, "And I know just the horse for the job!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, that green guy!"

"…Green guy?"

"Yeah…what was his name? Oh, Link!"

"Are you suggesting I steal his horse? You're out of your mind!"

"What other choice do you have?"

"…{Oh Kagyo…should I really go against your teachings?}"

Just then, they both hear a horse cry. They look down below and find a black horse; it is Ganondorf's old horse now gone feral; a good indication is that its warhorse armor is missing. Kakyo, oblivious to all outside events, hurries over to it with Plumm close behind telling her it isn't friendly. She foolishly closes in on the horse as it drinks from the lake. As she goes to touch it, it jerks its head back quickly rearing, landing hard on its feet and glaring at Kakyo. But the young Zora isn't fazed; she reaches out and pets it calling it silly. It head butts her knocking her over and she only laughs, amazed at its strength. This confuses the horse. Plumm can't believe that Kakyo doesn't realize that Gerudo Stallions are very aggressive when they're feral.

Kakyo stands seeing that the stallion means business, but the stallion sees that she just isn't afraid of him. He thinks back to his old master, and his life after his master's death. He had been brought to Hyrule Castle to be retrained but he would have no part of it and eventually escaped. But he can see that this Zora has no knowledge of Ganondorf; otherwise she would've fled by now. Without realizing it, she was petting him. Once she starts to rub his left ear, he quickly falls under the spell of a truly euphoric feeling. She soon stops and he looks at her confused wondering why she stopped. Kakyo rubs the other ear and he again regains the euphoric feeling. She stops again and he quickly resorts to begging wanting more.

Kakyo says, "I see, you'll do anything for an ear rub. Okay, let's make a deal. I need a horse to get across the desert, and you clearly need the right master. Eww, I shouldn't say 'master'. Ah, rider works! Okay, you need a better rider. I've only ridden a horse once when I was little when my brother was welcomed into Hyrule Castle, so I have some experience. If you help me cross the desert, I won't just rub your ears; I'll give you a complete rub down. Sound good?"

The stallion jumps around excitedly saying, "_You've got yourself a deal, Zora!_"

"Hahaha, sounds like I've made a new friend. My name is Kakyo. And I think I'll call you..Kaguroi. It means 'deep black'." Kakyo says.

Wasting no time, Kakyo leads Kaguroi up the walkway and to the desert. Plumm oddly follows the two, feeling like he should keep an eye on her. There was only one other problem: Kakyo stands at 4'08"; Kaguroi stands at least around 21 hands (7 feet). The Gerudo Stallion sees she cannot get on his back, so he sits down, allowing her to climb on. Kakyo tries her best, grabbing his flowing red mane. She struggles again until he stands bucking slightly so she doesn't fall off. The young Zora situates herself, and gets the stallion to canter, Plumm keeping up with little difficulty.

They race through the desert passing a few lookouts along the way; the lookouts don't sound the alarm. Even the Gerudo Tribe are aware of Kakyo; she has been training herself to withstand the intense heat ever since Hyrule was saved. They arrive at the Arbiter's Grounds, but Kakyo has no idea how she's going to get to the Mirror Chamber. That's when a single Gerudo appears, showing no interest in the horse.

"Hello there, Kakyo. Here for more heat training?" the Gerudo asks.

"Actually, I need to get to the Mirror Chamber." Kakyo replies.

The Gerudo says, "Is that all? Probably a demand from that prince, right? Ugh, men. Anyway, we've created a manual elevator; meaning you need to pull yourself up. Your horse will have to stay here. He's much too big and too heavy to go on it."

Kakyo agrees, "Okay. Let's go, Plumm."

Plumm follows Kakyo around the corner to where the manual elevator is. It's an old styled elevator that one would need to pull a rope in order to ascend. She steps in, closing the bending gate door behind her, finds the rope and pulls. Since she's light, there isn't much strain. Within a few minutes the two arrive at the Mirror Chamber. Upon entering the open area, Kakyo is quickly thrown off by the Sage Statues overlooking the spot. The mirror and pedestal have not been moved. Encouraging her, Plumm gets Kakyo to approach the mirror, but as she holds the Fused Shadow relic up, Plumm gets a bad feeling.

"Wait Kakyo!" Plumm calls, "Something doesn't feel right!"

Kakyo says being naïve, "That's just 'cause you're a bird, and a bird's first instinct is to fly away!"

The relic starts to float by itself, glowing as it reaches the middle of the mirror. However, as Plumm indicated, something goes wrong. The Fused Shadow Fragment morphs into something more familiar – Zant Mask. Kakyo falls back in utter shock and fear; she had witnessed a moment where Zant appeared near Lanayru's Spirit Spring. Another hologram appears, and this time, it's Zant.

Zant's hologram speaks, "Ahahahaha! I got you good! Did you really think that bratty girl would leave something behind like that? Pah! She still has her own fragment! Ah, but you've manage to help me, whoever you are. I shall bestow upon you the power Ganon gave to me!"

"No, I don't want that wicked power!" Kakyo says before running and hiding behind the pedestal. She covers her head shivering in fear.

A lookout nearby sees the event and sounds the alarm. The other lookouts respond by sounding their alarms, and soon the Gerudo Desert is filled with the sounds of the alarms. The Gerudos below release a den full of trained Aeralfos that rush up to the Mirror Chamber, and the flying lizard quickly spot the Zant Mask. They dive in striking the mask and destroy it with ease. But the mask only regenerates and instantly fuses itself with the mirror's frame. It melts in and morphs more, soon becoming a new Mirror of Twilight, save for one difference: the Triforce symbol is upside-down.

The mirror activates itself with what power Zant left behind for it, however, it's instantly stopped. The hieroglyphs and magic rings soon start to shine and glow all sorts of colors until a portal is opened. Her attention now caught, Kakyo peeks over the pedestal. Someone arrives from the portal, rematerializing on the pedestal. After a few seconds, the individual is shown to be Midna herself. She looks over at the mirror, her eyes narrowing at the sight of it. The portal behind her closes and the new mirror shuts down.

Midna approaches the new mirror, sensing Zant's magic from it. She knows full well she won't be able to shatter this mirror, even if Zant was actually weak.

The Twilight Princess speaks, "It seems only someone with equally dark magic can destroy this. I can't even reactivate it."

Kakyo tries to sneak away, but Midna can hear her shuffling. The Twilight Princess makes her way over to the frightened Zora as the Aeralfos fly back to their den. With ease, Midna grabs Kakyo by the collar of her shirt and lifts her up, the young Zora curling up like a cat. The two look at each for a minute before anything is said.

"Hmm, you are not evil by any means, are you?" Midna says, easily reading the young Zora. "No, you're just desperate for something."

Kakyo replies in hysterics, tears streaming down her face, "I'm sorry, Twilight Princess Midna! I didn't know the relic was actually a trap! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't punish me!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy, little one." Midna says putting her down, "I'm not going to hurt you. That isn't me."

"But, that thing forced you here, right?"

"No. I appeared here on my own free will to stop it. Zant's magic is identical to Ganon's. But the both of them were fools."

"So…what can I do to fix this?"

"We need help from an old friend of mine."

"An…old friend?"

The next day, Link is finishing up herding the goats with Epona. He completes his task, dismounting Epona. Just then, Colin rushes up to Link alarmed saying that Beth got stuck in a tree again. Link rolls his eyes knowing this is another attempt to try and attract him, but it never works. Leaving Epona at the ranch, Link follows Colin to the tree. Kakyo soon emerges from the barn having snuck in the previous night. She cautiously exits the barn making a beeline straight to Epona. Amazingly she is able to approach the mare and grab hold of the reigns. Epona looks at her slightly confused as she leads Epona out the way she came in; there is a hidden path on the other side of the barn.

Meanwhile, Link gets Beth out of the tree and when she tries to his him on the cheek as a thanks, he promptly drops her on the ground, a dust cloud rising up from the impact. Ilia suddenly appears alerting Link that Epona is missing. Although Link brushes it off saying Epona likes to disappear on occasion, Ilia tells him that she saw a Zora take her. Now on alert, Link wastes no time heading back to the ranch.

Out in Hyrule Field, Midna helps Kakyo onto Epona's back. Midna then hands Kaguroi's new reigns over to Kakyo and makes it look like the young Zora needed Epona to catch the stallion; he recently acquired a white and blue colored Ranch Western Saddle from a shop in Castle Town. They soon hear hoof steps in the distance. As Midna takes her position behind a tree, Kakyo gets the horses to trot and then canter. Soon enough Link arrives out in the field riding an Ordon Goat. He stops the goat when he sees the two horses a few feet away slow down and stop. Kakyo looks over and has Epons walk over with Kaguroi.

Link asks, "Are you the Zora that stole my horse?"

"Stole?" Kakyo responds, "I'm sorry, I was only borrowing her. You see, my horse here got away from me while I was training him, and I needed something fast to catch up. I knew the Ordon Village had a horse, so I figured I'd borrow her to capture mine and bring her back."

Epona rolls her eyes as she thinks, "{_Hyrule needs more horses…I'm getting tired of this._}"

Kaguroi nudges her side with his nose thinking, "{_Put up with this a bit longer, Mare. If things go well, your master and that broad will be reunited._}"

Link looks at the stallion then says astonished, "Wait a sec…that's Ganondorf's horse! I thought Zelda had him!"

"Eh, well, I'm guessing he escaped because I found him at the lake. He listens to me okay, but he has his moments, haha." Kakyo explains.

"I hear you there. Epona likes to disappear on me and return covered in mud." Link says.

"_Only because I get hot and the mud is cool._" Epona snorts, her head slightly hanging low, ears back.

Link asks, "Anyway, can I have her back?"

"Well…" Kakyo starts as she moves onto her horse, "…Not quite!" and pats Epona's hindquarter.

Epona trots off with Link following on the goat. She evades Link long enough to make it to the tree Midna is hiding behind. As Link passes it, he stops the goat having caught something out of the corner of his eye. Epona stops to graze, swishing her tail while her master dismounts the goat. He turns to find Midna smiling at him. Kakyo rides over, stopping at the tree. Link's face goes from thinking he's seeing things to ecstatic; like he did when she was revived, he runs over to her at full speed before tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground. Seeing this, Epona and the goat _hoof_palm. Kaguroi only shakes his head, ears low.

Laughing, Midna responds, "One month later and you're still as clumsy as I remember!"

Kakyo giggles, "Guess you weren't kidding, Midna-chan."

Link stands and says as he brushes himself off, "Yeah, yeah, keep laughing." Then he looks at Midna, "Midna, I can't believe you're back in Hyrule! How'd you come back?"

She replies, "To be honest, it was an accident through Kakyo here. And the whole 'burrow Epona' thing was a lure."

"One month later, and you still think like an imp." Link jokes.

The girls explain how Midna returned to Hyrule as Link leads them to his home. He is surprised to learn Zant had left a replica Fused Shadow behind as a trap when the first one was inevitably buried. Midna has no clue how Zant was able to fabricate a hologram of her with a message. Kakyo asks if Zant is still alive, but Midna confirms he is really dead; not only did she kill him, but he was never revived. Link asks how Midna is able to stand being in the light, recalling that this world's light could harm her. She brings up the Light Spirits reviving her, and how she was able to stay in the sunlight before returning to her world shattering the mirror.

A little while later, they reach Link's house. There waiting for him are the kids of the village. Right away Kakyo gets a bad feeling as Beth shoots the girls a nasty look. Link helps Kakyo dismount Kaguroi and Ilia gladly brings the horses to the ranch. Before Link could bring Kakyo to the pool of water in the middle of the village, Beth stops him demanding to know who the girls are, quickly insulting Kakyo by calling her a fish.

This forces Kakyo to shy away and hide behind Link; she isn't big into conflict despite wanting to become a soldier. Midna, full of confidence and attitude, steps up to the plate calmly but in a smug way insults Beth by asking Link why he's into a child. The other kids look at each other in shock and quickly run away from the verbal battle, not wanting to end up in the crossfire. Angered, Beth tries insulting and get a rise out of Midna by calling her a "pale, pasty-looking old lady", but this doesn't work. Now fearful, Kakyo tries to climb up Link's back, holding onto his shoulders while keeping herself in place by placing her feet on his thick belt.

Midna simply turns Beth around and pushes her away suggesting to go play in the mud with the others while saying under her breath that the mud will do some good to Beth's dry and flaky skin. Before Beth could toss another round of weak insults, Midna shows off a fraction of her power by transforming into Beth saying "boo". Beth runs away scared out of her mind as Midna transforms back. Satisfied with getting rid of Beth, Midna turns to face Link but is a little surprised to find Kakyo almost on his head, shaking like a leaf. Link tells her that Kakyo became frightened.

Day turns to midday. Kakyo happily swims in the pool of water while occasionally popping out to scare Cuccoos. Just sitting on the bank, Link tells Midna that all he has been up to is returning to the days before Ganondorf tried to take control of Hyrule, while sometimes making trips to and from Castle Town and Kakariko Village. Midna sheds light on her situation saying that she's not only taken her place as ruler of the Twilight Realm, but that she's trying to fix the nature there. Apparently everything is monochrome, and she wants to make it colorful. Link then asks about Kakyo, but Midna does not know much of her, just that they met yesterday.

The Hero Chosen by the Gods calls out to the young Zora who jumps out of the water like a dolphin, and goes into a summersault to a stand, quickly facing Link. She walks up to him as he asks her story. Kakyo lowers her head with a saddened look. She sits in between the two and explains her story.

Ten years ago, when she was just an egg, her parents and brother were on their way to Hyrule Castle to meet the King. Her brother Kagyo wanted to work for the King by becoming the Guardian of the Moat and waterways. While en route, they came under attack by King Bulblin, his archers firing flaming arrows. Her parents put up a tough front as Kagyo escapes with the egg.

He makes his way to Zora's River, hoping his parents will arrive. A few hours pass with no one coming. The egg suddenly hatches, and Kagyo becomes the first thing Kakyo sees. He names her after him and promises to take care of her.

As the years pass, Kagyo becomes a Zora Soldier and secretly trains Kakyo. Queen Rutela becomes a mother-figure to Kakyo, praising her often while also giving her own son attention. Ralis, however, becomes jealous of Kakyo. When Hyrule becomes bathed in Twilight and comes under attack, Queen Rutela's execution upsets Kakyo and Kagyo. Just before Zora's Domain is frozen, Kagyo disappears chasing the Shadow Beasts. After Link saves the Zoras, Kagyo never returned. Then after Hyrule is saved, he is nowhere to be found. The other Zoras tried their best to get Ralis to se Kakyo as a sibling, but his jealousy gets the better of him and he turns her into a servant, denying her wish to become a soldier. So she recently decided to run away, and she met Kaguroi.

"That's basically it." Kakyo says, "I want to find my brother, but I don't know where he could've gone. I'm basically an orphan right now."

Midna reaches over and pets Kakyo as Link says, "Oh, you poor thing. I'd be happy to help you look for him, but, I can't turn into a wolf anymore. Those days are gone."

"You know, I held onto the little Shadow Crystal." Midna says dangling it.

Link isn't sure how to respond until the Shadow Crystal disintegrates into dust, a sign that Zant no longer exists. He will have to search the hard way.

"Hmm, how about we start with his known areas?" Link suggests.

Kakyo answers, "There's only so many. He's not at Zora's Domain or the river, not in the lake…sometimes he'd go to the Hot Spring in Kakariko Village and Sumo Wrestle with a couple Gorons. I don't know his other places."

"In that case, let's go to Kakariko Village." Midna says standing up.

"Whoa, hold on, where do you think you're going?" Link says getting up, "You may have powers, but there's still a good amount of danger out there."

Midna turns around and says, "Well _excuse me_, Hero, but I'm not as defenseless as before. I'm going with you whether you like it or not." and walks off to the ranch.

Link looks on thrown off and after a few seconds of silence Kakyo asks, "Uh, does she actually like you or does she love jabbing you in the sides?"

"I have no idea." Link says as he stands.

In Hyrule Field, the three ride through the large field with Midna riding with Kakyo, finding hardly any monsters like Bokoblins. Link is a little surprised by this considering the last few times he came through, there were a lot. Epona is first to lead through the Kakariko Gorge and finally into the Village. Kakyo is not impressed at how the village looks, commenting that it looks like a "poor place". Link corrects her saying that Kakariko Village has a history behind it, that a long time ago, a race called the Sheikah called this village home. Although there are Sheikah descendents, there are no actual Sheikahs to be found. Midna suggests that they may have been the Dark Interlopers that the Light Spirit Lanayru mentioned. Link chooses to not believe it as they used to protect the Royal Family. He soon recalls the only descendent he knows lives in the Hidden Village, saying it's the older Kakariko.

Kakyo still isn't impressed until Midna tells her that this village is also important to the Zora race, as Zoras come to this village for their eternal rest. The young Zora becomes confused, having never heard of that information. They dismount the horses leaving them by the spring. Kaguroi watches from a distance while the three walk over to the helpful Goron that will launch Link in the air to the hot spring. Epona tells him that Kakyo will be fine.

The Goron is happy to see Link asking how he's doing. After Link replies he asks about Kakyo's brother. The Goron becomes concerned saying that Kagyo hasn't made any appearances since he heard of Zora's Domain thawing out. Kakyo becomes upset having no idea where her brother could've gone. The Goron does say that after Kagyo came to the hot spring, he'd feel good enough to go wrestle the other Gorons in Death Mountain. But since he never came to use the hot spring first, it wouldn't be likely that he went straight for Death Mountain. Kakyo starts to cry having a feeling she'll never find Kagyo.

Midna is quick to try and console the young Zora. Link asks if he knows where else Kagyo would go. The Goron replies that after several matches, Kagyo would descend the mountain either victorious or not and would always hint about going to fish for food. Link immediately thinks of the Fishing Hole.

Before any other action could be taken, a familiar curtain of Twilight suddenly covers Kakariko Village and Death Mountain. It continues to spread like wildfire. Midna instantly looks up at it angered while Kakyo looks up fearing for her life; all the Twilight did was bring her all kinds of misfortune. Link goes to grab his sword and shield, but he remembers that he return the sword to it pedestal, and put away his Hero Clothes and shield. But no one was turning into a Shadow Beast or a spirit. Something appears in front of them, and to Link and Midna, this something was far too familiar.

Dressed in the same robes as before as well as donning the same fish-like mask, it speaks, "I'm baaaack~!"

"Zant!" Link shouts, "What the hell are you doing here? I thought Midna killed you!"

"Hahahahaha! Did you really think that? No, I was brought back." Zant replies, twisting his body around.

Midna demands, "Why revived you? I know I never would, and Ganondorf is dead!"

Zant laugh insanely before answering, "A very foolish guy. Oh and I mean FOOLISH! The stupid jerk sought me out before you guys did and tried to fight me. Heeheehee, he didn't stand a chance!"

"At least he had the right idea!" Kakyo yells from behind Midna, hiding behind her.

Zant sees Kakyo and zooms in on her saying, "Oh, you look just like him actually."

Link punches Zant in the face forcing him back demanding, "Are you saying that guy was her brother?"

"Meh, all you Zoras look alike. But yes." Zant replies as if it doesn't mean anything.

Kakyo launches herself at him knocking him to the ground and knocking off his mask. She grabs his collars and banging his head against the ground shouts, "You bastard! What did you do to Kagyo-kun?"

"Oh you've got his temper too! All I did was put up with his pathetic attempts to harm me, and then I flung him to the surface of the Twilight Realm!" Zant answers.

"The surface? You really are insane!" Midna growls, "The surface is no place for a Creature of the Light."

"What happens there?" Link asks.

Midna explains, "The surface of the Twilight Realm is similar in appearance to your world's Hyrule, but it's not as beautiful or friendly. It's all mostly monochrome, hardly and colors like here. There are all kinds of vicious beasts, including the Shadow Beasts that were here, and they don't let up. Once you're in their territory, you're lucky to escape with your life."

Epona and Kaguroi suddenly spook, rearing, bucking, and neighing like they were under attack. Birds above fly erratically as if trying to escape something.

Zant laughs saying, "Oh you guys are gonna love this! Those giant monsters you fought before are back, but they're not their usual selves!"

"What do you mean by that? And to be truthful, not all of them should be back since only two of them were innocent people." Link asks.

"True, but all the others are. They're just mere shadows of what they once were. Now then, I'll see you later!" Zant says quickly disappearing, causing Kakyo to fall to the ground.

Midna helps her back up as the Twilight Curtain disappears, however, Link can see it lingering over the desert. Kakyo looks over at the desert, wondering why her brother confronted Zant. Link knows he has no choice but to save Hyrule again, and there is only one sword that can help him do just that. He must head back to the Sacred Grove a retrieve the Master Sword.

* * *

**Trivia**

1) In Twilight Princess, Link is officially known as the "Hero Chosen by the Gods". The other two are simply nicknames.

2) In the game, the desert is still called "Gerudo Desert" but all that's found there is a cave, peahats, and enemies. The Gerudos only appear in two games, but for plot sake, I had them return.

3) In the End Credits, Midna's Fused Shadow can be seen on the ground in pieces. However, the Fused Shadow Kakyo finds is not Midna's.

4) Kakyo and Kagyo are twin Zora's, although a few years apart. Kagyo means "river fish" while Kakyo means "waterway; canal; river". In this case, it means "river". Kaguroi means "deep black".

5) It is known, especially in Majora's Mask, that Zoras are weak to fire and ice. Kakyo is trying to train herself to stand the heat for when she becomes a soldier. The desert is the perfect place to start.

6) It is never really known what becomes of Ganon's Steed in the end. Also, both Kaguroi and Epona have been given a bit more intelligence to help the story along. Side note, I DO work with horses, and they really do have very unique personalities.

7) The Mirror of Twilight in the game can only be broken by the Twilight Realm's true ruler. Zant was not and only broke it into shards. Midna was able to obliterate it with her tear. Since this mirror is created from dark magic, Midna will not be able to destroy it herself.

8) Midna's idea of "stealing Epona" wouldn't be OOC as she can be quite mischeivous. Epona going with Kakyo also wouldn't be out of the ordinary as horses will follow anyone if they're attached to a lead or reigns.

9) Kaguroi calling Epona "Mare" would actually be appropriate for his personality since he used to belong to Ganondorf.

10) Horses LOVE to role on the ground, even if it's muddy.

11) When the Light Spirits revived Midna, the sun was setting, but still out. Also, Midna is able to freely ride of Wolf Link's back even when the sun is out.

12) If anyone remembers Beth, she has a crush on Link. But Midna is able to calmly handle the verbal battle between her and Beth.

13) Kakyo classifies herself as an orphan as her parents are dead, her brother is missing, and Queen Rutela is dead.

14) Midna uses the meme "Excuse Me, Princess".

15) It is believed the Hidden Village is actually Ocarina of Time's Kakariko Village.

16) According to Zant, Kagyo brought back Zant, but he could just be rambling.

17) The Twilight Realm being monochrome, is actually from the beta versions while the game was being developed.


	2. Shadow Parasite Diababa

Character Thoughts: "{abc}"  
Translated Speech: "_abc_" (usually referring to animals)

Chapter 2:  
Shadow Parasite Diababa

Wasting no time, Link heads back to the Sacred Grove. It takes him a couple hours to get through, but manages to return in one piece with the Master Sword in hand. After, he returns home to put back on his Hero Clothes and retreive his Hylian Shield. Then he thinks, Kakyo has no way of defending herself. He looks around and finds his old Ordon Sword and Wooden Shield. Link grabs his old weapons before leaving his home to join the girls just outside. Kakyo is fooling around with the practice dummy outside when Link calls her name. She heads over to him and he presents her with the sword and shield.

Taken aback she asks, "Whoa, what are these?"

"They're my old sword and shield." Link answers, "I know they're not what you might be used to, and I know leaving you behind isn't an option. You can use these, but I'm going to teach you how first."

"Are you sure I can have them?" Kakyo asks.

Link answers, "I have no use for them. Heh, not anymore, anyway."

Ecstatic, Kakyo happily accepts her new weapons. Link has her face the practice dummy and starts to train her. While he is doing that, Midna fools around with her own magic spells. While she had been fulfilling her role as Princess, she had also been refining her magic to the point of becoming a sorceress. But this doesn't last for very long. A twilight curtain covers the Ordon and Faron skies, followed by loud hissing. Suddenly, large mobile vines come out of nowhere and start to take over the village. The Light Spirit Ordona can be seen appearing from his spring and attacking the vines. But all too soon, he becomes enveloped by then and turned into an orb. Without warning, the culprit Diababa's head appears, now sporting ten petals around the main head and four more semi-mouths. Diababa's eye pokes out of its mouth before devouring and swallowing the Light Spirit. Using the Light Spirit's energy, Diababa evolves, now growing vine-molded hands and legs, sprouts six "boney" looking wings, and the semi-mouths become a new tail. The parasite had taken on the form of a decomposed dragon.

Diababa looks around with its only eye, knocking down several trees. Link makes the decision to cut off one of the vines with it spewing out purple liquid and squirting him in the face. Kakyo shouts his name knowing what the liquid is. Diababa doesn't pay attention to the pain, the vine regenerating quickly. Midna prepares an orb of energy and flings it at the beast's head. It hits but the beast doesn't flinch. She knows the only way to damage it is with a bomb, but without any available bombs, coaxing this beast to the ground is going to be a challenge. All Kakyo can do is shield herself, not wanting to cut the vines. Pretty soon, after several more failed slashes, Link starts to feel the effect of the purple liquid. He begins to feel dizzy, till finally he passes out cold.

Nightfall covers Hyrule, but not the Ordon and Faron Provinces. Midna and Kakyo had taken Link to Kakariko Village where Renado had given Link a powerful antidote. Link slowly wakes up, asking why he passed out.

"Link-san..." Kakyo starts, "You were splashed with Diababa's poison. You're lucky to have survived."

Midna suddenly hugs Link saying worried, "Oh Link, I thought that was going to be the end of you!"

"Nah come on, I'm stronger than that..." Link says, still weak.

Renado comes over seeing Link is awake saying, "Ah Link, I'm glad the antidote's working. You had us all worried there."

Ilia appears saying, "You were so close to death, Link! You were turning white and everything!"

"Ilia, you're here?" Link asks.

"Yeah." Talo replies, "Midna took you on Epona and escape Ordon first. Kakyo gained a little bravery and took care of some of the vines blocking the exit with her horse, and then came back for the village. Some of the goats were pulling the wagons, but they needed coaxing from Kaguroi. We got here safely, and for now everyone's staying in the Hidden Village. Impaz was able to put this powerful barrier over the village so that the monsters won't find it!"

"Well, in that case I'm glad you're all okay." Link says before he reaches and pets Kakyo on her head, "And well done to you. You'll become a Zora Soldier in no time."

"You really think so?" Kakyo asks as she catches his hand.

"Okay everyone," Renado starts, "Let's let Link rest. As for you kids, off to bed."

Kakyo whines, "Does that include me?"

It's late at night. Kakyo is at the hot spring, soaking in some much needed water after spending most of the day on dry land. She looks up at the sky, looking into the stars. After staring for so long, she is able to connect the stars in a way that shapes into her brother's face. Kakyo hangs her head; Zant indicated that Kagyo is somewhere on the surface of the Twilight Realm. She wonders how she's going to bring him back.

Out in the spring nearby, the Light Spirit Eldin slowly takes form. He flies over the ledge overlooking his spring, noticing that the Ordon Province has been taken over. Eldin tries to sense Ordona, but cannot, as he has been devoured by Diababa. He tries to sense Faron, who is unable to take form at this point, trying his best to stay hidden so that he does not meet the same fate as Ordona. The large owl-like spirit lands on the ground soon picking up Link's aura; it is weak from the poison. He then sees Kakyo getting down from where the hot spring is and runs up to him all awestruck. She looks up at him, staring intently at his magnificence.

"Oh," Eldin starts, "are you the young Zora named Kakyo?"

"Eeep!" Kakyo squeals in surprise, "Y-yes, I'm Kakyo! I-I'm also aiding Link and Midna!"

"Haha, no need to be so frightened. Hmm, I can sense you're the one responsible for putting up a dark mirror."

"...I was tricked."

"These things do happen. But Zant is hardly a threat right now. Hahaha, he's no stronger than a fish with an attitude."

"That's a good thing, right? That he's weak? Ngh...I know I need to correct my mistake."

"You cannot correct it on your own. And our Hero cannot combat that parasite either. If he becomes poisoned again, he may not survive."

"How are we supposed to take down that plant? It swallowed one of your friends!"

"If only Link not only had invulnerable armor, but the ability to cast fire, he could take Diababa down."

"Ability to cast fire? Wait, are you talking about combining fire with something?"

"No, I mean the ability to cast fire. You see, young Kakyo, Hylians have their own magic abilities. They can use magic by playing songs. But, Link is special. He carries the Triforce of Courage. Zelda carries Wisdom, and Ganondorf, although dead, carries Power. Each Triforce peace grants the owner special abilities. Ganondorf gained the ability to transform into a formidable beast as well as survive death; Zelda can cast any kind of magic spell; Link...well...he never truly unlocked his abililties other than being recklessly brave. Link can cast magic, but he has yet to learn to use the full power of his Triforce piece."

"...My head hurts now."

"Haha, sorry, I overwhelmed you. Now, I must rest. Perhaps we shall see each other again."

Eldin slowly fades away, the orb he floats on being the last to disappear. Kakyo knows she must pass this information on to Link, but she'll have to wait till morning. She turns around to head back to Renado's Sanctuary, but is startled by the sight of the Golden Wolf. He sits there with his one red eye looking up at the frightened Zora. A few minutes pass and Kakyo becomes curious about the wolf. She walks up to him and he lets her pet him. The wolf then moves back, faces the other way, and signals Kakyo to follow him. She goes to call Kaguroi, but he growls; he's telling Kakyo she must follow him herself. With not much choice, she follows the wolf outside the village.

The Golden Wolf leads Kakyo to Zora's River, all the way to Hena's Fishing Hole. He takes her through the door and to the large pond of water. He turns to face her and sits down. Kakyo follows suit, sitting down keeping her eyes on him. They look at each other intently before the Wolf finally smiles.

"Oh, I see." the Wolf speaks telepathically, "You have the same ambitions as she did."

"She? Who are you talking about? Who are you?" Kakyo asks.

"You wouldn't know. Several centuries ago, I met a female Zora. She was quite the tomboy. I needed a certain stone that the Zoras had back then in order to enter the Temple of Time. When I saved her, she handed me the stone, saying it was an 'engagement ring' of sorts. I didn't really have much interest in her. But, she eventually became the Sage of Water. Her name was Princess Ruto."

"Ruto? ...Almost sounds like Rutela."

"That is because Queen Rutela is Ruto and Ralis's mother."

"How come I've never seen her or heard of her?"

"I did just say 'several centuries ago'."

"..."

"Anyway, you have her fins. Very flossy, and you're a tomboy yourself. Ah, so she did have descendents of her own."

"What are you getting at?"

"Young one, you and your family are descendents of Princess Ruto."

"...I...I'm the descendent of a Sage? Just how farfecthed is this story gonna get?"

"Hey y'know what, it isn't my fault that Nintendo never really did anything else with Ruto. The only thing they did was make a sequel, and that was quite the middle finger to the world. I hope my descendents never have to see that depressing place."

"Why did you bring me here then?"

"Basically to tell you that, and you weren't the one to receive her abilities {not that she really had any}."

"Abilities? Ugh, explain, will you?"

"Okay, okay. Look, Sages have some kind of magic, right? You weren't lucky enough to receive any kind of magic. Your brother was."

"Kagyo has powers?"

"Yes, but unfortunately, he has the wrong kind. I can sense it from here."

"...Why am I having trouble believing you?"

"Because I'm being troll and wasting your time."

"...Bakayarou."

"Couldn't resist. But you really are her descenent; that much is true. I'm really here to tell you that I'm the one who can teach Link how to use the Triforce of Courage to his full potential."

"You can teach him? How?"

"Tell him to come here once he has recovered. You'll see who I am then."

"...You suck, you know that?"

"And you're a fish."

The next morning, Link has recovered enough to walk. Midna helps him outside the sanctuary where Kakyo is practicing sword fighting with Colin. Both are evenly matched with their current skills till Colin tries a Spin Attack, trying to mimic Link, but messes up and nearly decapitates him and Kakyo. Both fall over with Colin letting the sword go as it lands flat on its side behind him. Kakyo advises not doing that until he's learned how to fully control his sword. Midna calls to them, Kakyo responding first by getting up and running over to them. She tells them about her conversations with Eldin and the Golden Wolf. Link is very surprised that the Golden Wolf appeared to her and to learn she's the descendent of Princess Ruto. Midna brings up how she can easily disprove that by bringing her to the current Sages. Kakyo says that she would rather if Midna didn't, having gained some new confidence.

But Midna isn't going to be a good Princess. She lets go of Link who stumbles to stand still, grabs Kakyo's arm and warps them both to the Mirror Chamber. A few minutes later, they warp back, Kakyo proud of herself. Colin asks what happened and Midna replies saying that the Sages said Kakyo and her brother are descendents of Ruto. Kakyo once more approaches Link about what Eldin and the Golden Wolf said. Link agrees saying the next stop is Hena's Fishing Hole.

The three arrive there rather quickly. They head through the door and find the Golden Wolf sleeping by the pond. The Hero calls out to the wolf, who wakes up and looks up at his descendent with hopeful eyes. The wolf sits up while Kakyo jumps in the water and quickly catches a fish. Midna stays under a nearby tree keeping an eye on the young Zora.

"Ah Link, I'm glad you could make it on such short notice." the wolf says.

"I've done it before. Kakyo tells me I can unlock the Triforce of Courage's full potential." Link states.

The wolf replies, "Yes. Sadly, I've wasted much energy transporting you to the other realm like before. But it's still possible to teach you. Now, since you're up against a stronger Diababa, you'll need to learn to control fire; bombs won't work in him this time."

Midna says looking at her hand, "That must be why my magic didn't work on him."

"It's possible, Twilight Princess." the wolf says, "Okay Link. The fishing hole is the perfect place to train. Diababa luckily is slow moving and still needs water in order to live; it is a plant. Now then, the spell I am about to teach you is called Din's Fire. There are two ways to use it: as a shield and as a fireball. Link, simply focus as much as you can on your left hand in order to make the triforce appear."

Looking at his left hand, Link closes his eyes, forms a fist, and begins to focus. Kakyo surfaces watching Link try to focus. It takes him several minutes to focus strongly before getting his triforce to appear on his hand. The Wolf praises Link before telling him to start thinking about fire. Although it's easy to think of fire, Link knows he needs to focus. Without realizing it, his left hand is set ablaze and he freaks out quickly putting his hand in the water. The Wolf facepalms shaking his head. Link takes his hand out, dries it off, and tries again. This time he keeps his hand open and focusing correctly, forms a small fireball in his hand, no bigger than a golfball. The Wolf tells him to force the fireball to the ground. Link does as instructed and is surrounded by a barrier of fire. When he moves back, the barrier moves with him. When he asks how to make the barrier go away, the wolf shrugs replying he can't remember; to him it only lasted a few minutes.

Well, waiting a few minutes didn't do anything. Kakyo carries over some water in a big leaf and tries pouring the water on the barrier. It instantly turns to steam, rising in the air. Link tries placing his hand on the barrier while focusing, and within seconds it goes away. The wolf tells Link to focus again, but this time wants one hand over the other. He does as instructed and soon finds a sphere of fire in between his hands. Thinking he knows what to do, he goes to throw it at the pond, but when he does...a huge steam cloud is the result, resulting in the pond drying up, the fish flopping around in a panic. Midna and the wolf facepalm while Kakyo is in complete disseray.

A few hours pass by. Link, Midna, and Kakyo follow the Golden Wolf riding their horses. He brings them to Castle Town up to the Hyrule Castle. Princess Zelda is in the courtyard when she notices the four entering the area. The three dismount their horses while the Golden Wolf disappears. Zelda smiles at Link before acknowledging Midna is behind him. Kakyo stays close to Kaguroi, almost clinging to him like she is afraid.

"Link," Zelda speaks, "it's great to see you again. Have you changed your mind?"

"No, I'm not becoming a guard." Link replies, "I need the Magic Armor. I heard that after Ganondorf's death, you took the Magic Armor and put it away. I need it to take on Diababa so I don't get poisoned again."

Zelda looks down for a moment, then looks back up, "I had a feeling something wasn't right after that curtain of Twilight covered the skies the other day. Okay. I'll have someone bring it out here."

A soldier brings out the Magic Armor several minutes later. Zelda reveals she had upgraded its use; instead of it taking away Rupees, it can now be used for a maximum of 10 minutes once the monster responsible is being fought. She adds in that she's still trying to make it so it can be used without limitations, but so far that is the best she can do. With the Magic Armor in hand, the three depart from the castle in order to return to the Ordon Village so that they can deal with Diababa.

Once back in the Ordon Province, they find that Diababa had covered the entire village, as well as the woods, in vines and Baba Serpents...with much longer stems. One Baba Serpent detaches itself from the vine mesh, immediatly attacking the group. Not afraid, Kaguroi is first to make a move, rearing up and slamming down on the plant's head. The three dismount their horses looking on unable to find Diababa among the mesh. Nervous, Kakyo stays close to Kaguroi and clings to him while Link switches to his Magic Armor. Baba Serpents act as lookouts, though their inability to see far away still holds true. Once Link has his armor on, he takes out his sword and shield and rushes in, but quickly notices out of the corner of his eye that Kakyo is too scared to move. Midna tells him to speak to her, warrior to warrior. He nods and makes his way over while Midna starts to blast her way through the vine mesh with her magic.

Link walks up to the frightened Kakyo, places his hand on her head to gain her attention and asks with a smile and a gentle look, "What's the matter, Kakyo?"

"Mmphm...Link..." Kakyo responds innocently, "...Zoras can live a sheltered life like any other race. I only know the lake, the river, and the desert. I don't know the rest of this world. I don't know if I'm ready..."

"But don't you want to save your brother?"

"...Of course I do...but..."

"Hey, don't let stuff like this get to you. Would you like to know a secret?"

"What?"

"I'm scared as hell myself."

"You are?"

"Oh yes. You see, courage doesn't come from bravery. Courage comes from facing your fears and knocking them on their faces. If you can beat this plant, then it'll show you have twice the courage compared to the other Zoras, maybe even more."

"Really? ...Okay, I'll give it my best!"

Link pats her head and leads her to the new tunnel Midna has made.

As the three continue their way through the vine mesh, Midna has finally found where the mesh discontinues on the ground, forming a ceiling-like structure above. When they look around, they find Link's house off to the side. Five Baba Serpents drop from above scaring Kakyo immediatly attacking. Link slashes two of them cutting them in half while Midna lifts them in the air using telekinetic abilities and makes it explode using air pressure. The Hero looks at her almost scared to think of what she would do if she became angered. Kakyo is chased by the other two as she climbs up the ladder; turns out the serpents can climb vertical structures. The young Zora, unable to think clearly, takes her shield and whacks their heads, stunning them. Seeing that they aren't moving, she draws her sword and slashes them, finishing them off. Link gets the feeling that getting Kakyo used to fighting is going to take a long while.

The group moves on to the center of the village where Diababa has planted its roots into the water. Almost all the water is gone. Looking foward, they find that the ranch is blocked off, and the vine mesh is much too thick. Midna tries to break through anyway from a distance, launching a large sphere at the mesh; it doesn't work. Link jumps into the large pond, finding the water only comes up to his knees. Kakyo jumps in after him, having a little trouble walking in the little water. She dives in using her hands to walk around as swimming is not an option here. Midna uses her magic to summon platforms in order to follow the two, not quite ready to get wet. Kakyo takes the lead, finding one of the many roots. She quickly explores the rest of the pond, discovering a total of six thick roots sucking up all the water. Midna jokes bringing up Link's fail fireball, kind of suggesting he should dry up the rest of the water. Although the young Zora would hate to see the water dry up like it did before, even she says cutting the roots would be futile.

Having very little choices and no other weapons or items to use, Link starts to form a fireball. But instead of launching it at the water like before, he fires the flame at one of the roots to see what it does. Amazingly, the root does not catch on fire. Diababa has absorbed so much water that the roots are immune to fire. With no other options, Link has Kakyo join Midna on the platforms. Once she's on a platform, he launches another fireball this time at the water. The rest of the water dries up in an instant, the steam having nowhere to go. It rises up and heats up the vine mesh. The heat causes all the vines to crawl away and makes Diababa drop to the ground. The mutated dragon-like plant looks around concerned about the water. It spots the group, quickly becoming enraged.

Link quickly throws another fireball, aiming it at the monster's face. It hits, but Diababa does not burst into flame. The countdown on the Magic Armor also starts the second Link is immediatly hit with a poisonous vine. Kakyo draws her sword and starts to slash at the roots sticking out of the plant, trying her best to cut down its ability to absorb water should it get away. Midna uses her own psychic abilities by ripping off one of the heads on the tail, but it acts like a Hydra as a small Baba Serpent replaces the head, and quickly begins to grow. Link continues to chuck fireballs at the plant, trying to get its eye to emerge. This doesn't work; Diababa responds by using one of its wings to hit Link and Midna, making them go flying a few feet. Meanwhile, Kakyo continues to slash and cut, but starts to notice something. Each time she cuts a root, water leaks out, as if someone's poking holes in a water balloon. She then gets an idea: if she and Link can cut off enough roots, and if enough water drains out, Diababa will burst into flames more easily as it'll just dry up. Knowing this information, she goes to rush to Link, but a Baba Serpent pops out of the body and latches onto Kakyo's left shoulder. She desperatly whacks the plant on the head with handle of her sword, unable to cut it, but it isn't enough to get it to let go.

Midna sees this and fires a sphere at the stem. The stem is cut, but the serpent is still latched on. Midna rushes over to help as Link draws his sword and starts to slash at Diababa hoping to distract it. The Twilight Princess tries to pry open the Baba's mouth with her hands, but she doesn't have the strength to get it to let go. Angered enough and wanting to save Kakyo, Midna regains the use of her hair like she had when she was an imp, stabs the plant and rips it off the young Zora. The Baba Serpent, like Zant, blows up like a balloon and explodes. Kakyo grabs onto her injury with Midna finding the skin around the wound went from a silvery-white to a deep purple. The young Zora has been poisoned. Link makes his way around having figured out that if he cuts a root, water leaks out, but stops as soon as he sees the girls. As he rushes over, he chops off several more roots. Kakyo drops to her knees with Midna getting her to lie down.

"What's going on? Are you two alright?" Link asks.

Midna answers, "A Baba Serpent latched onto to Kakyo. I got it off, but it already did its damage. She's poisoned, Link."

"What? Oh no, this thing is NOT gonna end her like it nearly did me!" Link growls as he turns to face Diababa as it looks at him, poking its eye out. He charges a fireball, this one gaining an impressive size and fires it shouting, "DIE YOU ROTTEN PIECE OF SHIT!"

The fireball is a direct hit as the main head is lit ablaze. The time to the Magic Armor runs out, placing weight on Link, who had already gotten a head start at charging at the plant. While Diababa tries to douse the flames, Link rushes up its tail, runs over its back avoiding the wings, reaches the main head as it looks up and performs the Fatal Blow. Now in immense pain, the plant throws our Hero off it as it flails and flails. Soon it stops moving. It collapses, drying up quicker than a piece of paper being lit on fire, and explodes into a bunch of dried up pieces. An orb appears and it implodes revealing the Light Spirit Ordona. Seeing that the water is dried up within the Ordon Province, the spirit uses its powers to restore the water lost. Both Link and Midna struggle to surface as they bring Kakyo to shore. Kaguroi and Epona are finally able to join the three, but are stunned to find the young Zora in bad condition. The two lay down Kakyo, Midna supporting her head while she struggles to breathe. Her body is now purple from her left hand to half of her chest.

That is when Kakyo asks a heartbreaking question, "You guys...am...am I gonna die?"

Midna looks at Link with a shocked and upset expression, Link trying his best answering as he gently brushes his fingers on her cheek, "No, you're not gonna die. We'll get you to Kakariko Village, and Renado will give you an antidote. You'll be fine, Kakyo."

Ordona walks over, looking at the young Zora. He says, "I've used much of my power to restore the water. But, there might be a chance at her survival if you bring her to my spring. I shall go and contact Faron to see if there is something he can do."

"Then let's go. The poison's spreading fast!" Midna says.

Link quickly scoops up Kakyo and rushes to the spring on foot. Midna follows with the horses close behind. Ordona quickly heads over to Faron's Spring.

Once at Ordona's Spring, Link heads to the deepest part where the waterfall is. He drops to his knees holding her under the waterfall, trying to make it easier for her to breathe. The spring's healing properties seem to take effect, but it doesn't fully cleanse the wound. The poison is very strong. Midna decides to rush over to Kakariko to get the antidote taking Epona. She does, however, leave his green tunic behind should he decide to remove the Magic Armor. Kaguroi watches on, hoping Kakyo will recover. He starts to pace in a large circle.

Several minutes later, rushing through Hyrule Field, Midna returns with the antidote. Link is still in the spring, Ordona and Faron having arrived. Still weak from his experience, Ordona disappears in order to rest. Though the poison has been somewhat reduced by the purity of the spring, it is still strong enough to course through Kakyo's veins. She is having trouble breathing clearly despite being under the waterfall. Midna rushes over, antodite in hand. She was told for this that the antidote must be taken orally. She tells Link this, and he takes Kakyo out from the waterfall. When Midna bends down to give it to the young Zora, Link grabs the atitdote and gets Kakyo to drink it. After that, Faron tries his best to make the antodote work faster as the poison has gotten far, weakening young Kakyo. There isn't much he can do either; after reviving Midna a month ago, all of the Spirits have yet to replenish enough energy to revive a single individual. He tells Link to keep her under the waterfall so she can breathe; removing her again might make her stop. With that, Faron returns to his spring. Midna uses her magic to keep Kakyo against the wall so Link doesn't have to stay in the water. The long road to recovery begins.

Somwhere on the surface of the Twilight Realm, Kagyo is resting in a similar spring, although the magical properties are lacking. He too is having the same issues as his little sister, although he is not poisoned. He looks up at the sky before looking at the color of his skin. Due to being in the Twilight Realm for so long, his glorious silvery-white color has changed to dark grey with black spots. He holds onto his Zora Spear, the only thing that has kept him alive so far. He places one hand over his chest.

"{Kakyo...despite being only a few years apart, and literally being worlds apart, I can still sense and feel your pain. We are still connected...although even if you were to pass, I'd still live on. Don't you die on me yet, baby sister.}"

* * *

**Trivia:**

1) Even though Link receives the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield later in the game, he still held onto his first weapons.

2) In the game, Midna has revealed her use of magic. Although they have no name like everything else, they remain nameless here until specified by her. Now that she is no longer an imp, she has been able to build on her magic spells.

3) Diababa becomes a decomposed dragon...yeah, I wasn't really sure what to turn him into, but since he's the first boss anyway, it doesn't really matter. He's ended fairly quick, which I had planned. Having him move onto Hyrule would be a bit much right now.

4) It is implied that Impaz is part Shiekah. We see in Skyward Sword the kind of magic that can be used, so it wouldn't be odd if Impaz knows at least something.

5) Kakyo is constantly seen jumping into nearby water sources. Although Zoras can survive on both land and see, it's unclear how long they can remain out of the water. With the game being vague, I decided to have Kakyo constantly jump into the neares water source as she is still young.

6) I've looked up Hylians on the Zelda Wiki, but it doesn't say to what extent Hylians are able to cast and use magic. We see Link use all kinds of tricks, but we only see so much. Zelda is seen using more magic than both Link and Ganondorf combined, so it's possible Link can do the same, if not close to it. Since Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf all have a piece of the Triforce, they're powers/abilities are augmented.

7) The Golden Wolf returns. From what I have researched, he is actually the anscestor to TP Link; the Golden Wolf is the Link from OoT and MM. Since he seems to know a lot of skills, I figured that during his lifetime he would've figured out how to really use magic and teach it to TP Link. Not to mention, in OoT, Link can receive three Spells: Din's Fire, Nayru's Love, and Farore's Wind.

8) Kakyo and Kagyo being Ruto's descendents...okay, I was going out of my mind to figure out what happened to Ruto. I couldn't find a thing. Rutela, oddly enough is the mother to Ruto and Ralis, and the father is King Zora from OoT, but Rutela doesn't appear in OoT. And when she appears, she looks VERY young. So either Zoras have really long life spans or they grow very slowly. So yes, one of the Twin Zora's parents is one of Ruto's descendents. Shall we revisit the Golden Wolf fact?

9) Yes, the Golden Wolf was being a troll. I want him to be a bit of a jerk for character sake. If you read the manga of OoT and MM, he can be an idiot. He aloso breaks the 4th Wall by mentioning Nintendo.

10) "Bakayarou" = "stupid asshole"

11) Midna warps to the Mirror Chamber. This is just supposed to be a "cartoony" thing as she isn't seen warping Link anywhere else.

12) Din's Fire in OoT is a helpful barrier that can light enemies on fire. In that game, it only lasted a few minutes, so he really wouldn't know how to make it go away.

13) Link becomes desperate to help Kakyo. Despite hardly knowing her, this wouldn't be OOC.

14) Although gills cannot be clearly seen on a Zora, moving water in any form is what keeps anything with gills alive. It brings the oxygen in the water needed for its survival.

15) Kagyo being able to feel his sister's pain wouldn't be out of the ordinary. It is said that in some twins, if one is hurt the other will feel it. Whether it is with identical or fraturnal is unknown to me, but these two are so close, I wanted it to be emphasized. This is also Kagyo's first appearance since Kakyo's background.


End file.
